The Greatest Evil is War is an audiobook by Chris Hedges, narrated by Eunice Wong. The unabridged Audible edition runs 5 hrs 7 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
In fifteen short chapters, Chris Hedges astonishes us with his clear and cogent argument against war, not on philosophical grounds or through moral arguments, but in an irrefutable stream of personal encounters with the victims of war, from veterans and parents to gravely wounded American serviceman who served in the Iraq War, to survivors of the Holocaust, to soldiers in the Falklands War, among others. Hedges reported from Sarajevo, and was in the Balkans to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 2002 he published War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, which The Los Angeles Times described as “the best kind of war journalism . . . bitterly poetic and ruthlessly philosophical” and the New York Times called “a brilliant, thoughtful, timely, and unsettling book.”
In the twenty years since, Hedges has not wanted to write another book on the subject of war—until now, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. It is important again to be reminded who are the victors of the spoils of war and of other unerring truths, not only in this war but in all modern wars, where civilians are always the main victims, and the tools and methods of war are capable of so much destruction it boggles the mind. This book is an unflinching indictment of the horror and obscenity of war by one of our finest war correspondents.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 5 hrs 7 mins
- Publisher: Tantor Media
- Release year: 2022
- Audible category: History / Military / Wars & Conflicts
Listener Ratings
The Greatest Evil is War holds an average listener rating of 4.7/5 from 80 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.7/5
- Story: 4.7/5
- 5-star ratings: 82% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “Listen, politicians! Listen, all of us!”
Hedges writes of what he knows from first hand experience. At times appalling, at times deeply moving his writing brings to life the voices of many, from all sides, who have suffered, and are suffering, from the effects of war in all its horror. The narration by Eunice Wong is sensitive, nuanced and haunting. Not a book for entertainment, but this truly is a Must Listen.— Bill Hill, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Our Entertainment blockbuster ‘DUNE’ glorifies war”
Chris Hedges speaks of war as the greatest evil in reality. Yet, our entertainment blockbuster DUNE glorifies war.
We instill it with spiritual qualities and exciting visual scenes in the movie. This follows many others, such as ‘Star Wars’, ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ etc.
This cultural reality paradox follows in the footsteps of the Roman Empire and its coliseum entertainment of live combat of the gladiators, itself the core of the movie ‘Gladiator’ of a few years past.— Chaz, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Hedges’s best book so far “
This is a short read but is a darkly poetic, brutally true and adequate critique of war-culture. My favorite book by Hedges so far and contains one of the few well-constructed left wing criticisms of the escalation of the Ukrainian/Russian conflict by NATO available.— visionaryprism2, Audible listener
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